In her book Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist, the trailblazing civil rights leader Judith Heumann reflects on her life, education and career. Heumann, who died in 2022 after a lifetime of fighting for the rights of people with disabilities, had quadriplegia as a result of polio she contracted as a toddler. At every juncture in her life, Heumann faced exclusion due to her disability. In response to one setback, Heumann shares how she experienced these social, educational and professional barriers as painful challenges to her sense of belonging: “I was confused and heart-wrenchingly sad to the point of numbness. I just couldn’t understand what I had to do to be seen as an ordinary person” (Heumann & Joiner, 2021, p.41).

In this chapter we consider how people with mental illness and disabilities (together, mental disorders) have been marginalized over time, leading up to the present day. People with mental disorders have long been excluded from basic opportunities due solely to their disability –  just as Judith Heumann was due to her physical disability. Opportunities denied to people with mental disorders include receiving an education, accessing or getting paid for employment, participating in government, and even living freely in the community. For example, routine confinement in hospitals, where neglect and abuse were common, was the well-accepted lot of people with mental disorders in American society through much of the country’s history. Barriers and stigma around mental disorders are pervasive and do not stop at the doors of the legal system; problems are heightened for people who in addition to their mental disorders are also involved in the criminal justice system. This group of people is the focus of this textbook.

A theme throughout this text, and a purpose for which it was written, is to highlight and combat the persistent exclusion and mistreatment of people with disabilities generally, and mental disorders in particular, especially as they come into contact with the criminal justice system. The risk of people with mental disorders experiencing mistreatment or harm is exacerbated (inside and outside of criminal justice) when impacted people fall into the intersection of multiple vulnerable groups due to factors (such as racial or gender identity, or poverty) in addition to disability. The existence and impact of these intersections is often noted in this text. As you observe the history shared in this chapter, you will learn about the progress we have made in our treatment of people with mental disorders. You will also see how much work remains to be done as we move forward to a criminal justice system that better serves this population and thus our community as a whole.

1.1.3 Chapter Overview Licenses and Attributions

“Chapter Overview” by Anne Nichol is licensed under CC BY 4.0.